Outcast at Art School

SFR's 2012 Endorsement Issue

They say the only thing worse than being alone is being
surrounded by people who make you feel alone. Politically, I suppose, that
couldn’t be truer.

I decided to go to college in a town that is, by vast
majority, Democrat, at a school that appears to be roughly 99.9 percent liberal
Democrat. Two other students, freshman Maggie Johnson and sophomore Josiah
Ferris, made the same decision, regardless of their self-identified libertarian
politics.

The simple definition of a libertarian is someone who is
fiscally conservative and socially liberal. For the most part, Johnson and
Ferris’ social views are not at odds with the majority. Thankfully, not too
many students here at Santa Fe University of Art and Design have opinions on
the capital gains tax or small business loans. However, should you dare hint
that you have no plans to vote for Obama, there will be hell to pay.

Yes, the hell to pay comment is hyperbolic—but political
differences can be profoundly isolating.

“I think I’d be lying if I said I haven’t censored myself,” Ferris
says.

“I’ve been trying to keep it under the radar who I’m going
to vote for,” Johnson agrees. “I don’t want to start anything.”

And I, on many occasions, have censored myself. I have to
see these people every day. Why start a conflict over political beliefs that
rarely affect my day-to-day life?

Yet if I can find someone with opposing views who will have
a thoughtful, intelligent conversation on the issues, I’m in heaven. There’s
nothing worse than a group of people all in complete agreement.

“I think some people who don’t understand their political
views have a tendency to not talk much,” Ferris says. “There are other people
who think they know more than they do, so they just end up getting angry when I
refute them. They start yelling. So at that point, it’s just an argument—and
they are so passionate about it, they’re not going to change their minds. Then
there are other people that I have good discussions with. Yes, we disagree, but
it’s a discussion, not an argument.”

A discussion, not an argument—really, that’s all the
minority can demand. Besides, neither side is necessarily wrong; they just have
opposing plans to try to make the country better.